Cynodon

Thesaurus

Noun

Cynodon - creeping perennial grasses of tropical and southern Africagenus Cynodonliliopsid genus, monocot genus - genus of flowering plants having a single cotyledon (embryonic leaf) in the seedfamily Graminaceae, family Gramineae, family Poaceae, Graminaceae, Gramineae, grass family, Poaceae - the grasses: chiefly herbaceous but some woody plants including cereals; bamboo; reeds; sugar caneBahama grass, Bermuda grass, Cynodon dactylon, devil grass, doob, kweek, scutch grass, star grass - trailing grass native to Europe now cosmopolitan in warm regions; used for lawns and pastures especially in southern United States and IndiaCynodon plectostachyum, giant star grass - perennial grass having stems 3 to 4 feet high; used especially in Africa and India for pasture and hay

Cynodon

a genus of perennial grasses of the family Gramineae. There is a long, spreading rootstock and procumbent and ascending aboveground shoots. The stems are leafy, and the inflorescence consists of three to eight digitately arranged spicate branchlets. The small spikelets bear one or two flowers and form two approximate rows on the branchlets.

There are about ten species, distributed in tropical, subtropical, and temperate zones. The USSR has one species, Bermuda grass (C. dactylon), which is native to tropical Africa. Bermuda grass is found in the southern part of the European USSR, the Caucasus, the southern part of Western Siberia, and Middle Asia. It grows on grassy slopes, in meadows, on river flood-plains, in wastelands, and along roads. It is a weed in fields and orchards. Bermuda grass is a valuable pasture plant. Readily eaten by agricultural animals, it grows rapidly after grazing and withstands trampling well. It is one of the best lawn plants and serves as good ground cover at airports and on athletics fields. The plant can be used to control soil erosion. In regions of irrigated agriculture, Bermuda grass is a pernicious weed. Control measures include plowing or raking up the rootstocks, after which the roots dry out and freeze. Also effective is the application of herbicides to the soil before plowing.

REFERENCES

Kott, S. A. Sornye rasteniia i bor’ba s nimi, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1961.
Beliuchenko, I. S. Zlakovye kormovye rasteniia tropicheskogo poiasa. Moscow, 1969.

T. V. EGOROVA

Cynodon

Related to Cynodon: Cynodon dactylon

noun

Synonyms for Cynodon

noun creeping perennial grasses of tropical and southern Africa

Synonyms

genus Cynodon

Related Words

liliopsid genus
monocot genus
family Graminaceae
family Gramineae
family Poaceae
Graminaceae
Gramineae
grass family
Poaceae
Bahama grass
Bermuda grass
Cynodon dactylon
devil grass
doob
kweek
scutch grass
star grass
Cynodon plectostachyum
giant star grass